T H E G E N E V A C I T Y C O U N C I L JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 27, :00 PM

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1 T H E G E N E V A C I T Y C O U N C I L JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 27, :00 PM Presiding - Present - Stu Einstein, Mayor Matt Horn, City Manager David Lee Foster, City Attorney Eric Ameigh, Acting Director of ONI Valerie Bassett, Director of Economic Development 1. ROLL CALL Present: Clr. Valentino, Clr. O Malley, Clr. Hagerman, Clr. Augustine (arrived at 6:05pm), Clr. D Amico (left at 7:35pm), and Clr. Alcock (left at 7:35pm) Absent: Clr. Greco, Clr. Cosentino 2. RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A PUBLIC HEARING FOR ESTABLISHING CITY COUNCIL AS LEAD AGENCY FOR SEQRA REVIEW City Manager Horn presented the following resolution: WHEREAS, the Geneva City Council has established Providing Value for Taxpayer Investment as a Strategic Imperative; and WHEREAS, Council has directed staff to analyze methods for allocating costs associated with benefits afforded to all properties across all property owners; and WHEREAS, staff is currently reviewing the use of Benefit Assessment Districts as a potential tool for achieving this Council objective; and WHEREAS, implementation of this action is appropriate for review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act; and WHEREAS, considering factors associated with implementation, it is appropriate for City Council to serve as lead agency for this review. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that a public hearing to receive comment on declaration of the Geneva City Council as lead agency for this review will be held at a special City Council meeting on May 11, 2011 at 6 p.m. ACTION TAKEN by Clr. Valentino; seconded by Clr. O Malley MOVED THAT this resolution be adopted MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (6-3 absent)

2 3. DISCUSSION REGARDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES City Manager Horn said that a 2011 priority was to do a thorough evaluation of our market and explore new strategies. After doing an RFP, the city chose Camoin Associates, and they are here tonight to give a presentation on their progress so far. Jim Damicis of Camoin Associates said his firm wanted to come here to give the city an overview of their progress to be sure that we are all on the same page. He said he would go through the preliminary findings and determine what our top priorities are, what the barriers to plan implementation are, and what it will look like going forward. He said they are looking for Council's insight to be sure that all concerns are addressed. They want to figure out how the city's economic development plan and vision fits into the city's overall plan. Then they will develop specific actions to be implemented. So far they have reviewed existing plans, interviewed stakeholders, done economic overview, and performed retail analysis. They are getting ready to do a competitive assessment and economic impact analysis. Mr. Damicis said that in doing an industry analysis they look at the industry and run through three categories; size, growth, and concentration. In their industry analysis they found that the largest industries located in the city are local government, colleges and universities, general medical surgical hospitals, home health care, and direct selling establishments. They also found the fastest growing industries to be colleges and universities, financial investment, fruit and vegetable preserving and specialty food manufacturing, and individual family services. The industry analysis observations show much alignment between the city and County. For the most part sectors currently targeted by the city are supported by data. Arts and entertainment and recreation is strong in the County but not in the city. Based on the data, the sectors related to medical, life science, and health services warranted targeting as well. Christa Ouderkirk spoke about the market analysis related to retail saying that the purpose is to identify business opportunities that can be built upon, look at consumer spending habits, retail supply and demand, household characteristics, and compare findings. She said they begin by identifying the trade areas based on geography, competitors, drive time, full occupancy report, and asking local merchants where their customers come from. She then said that there are several industries experiencing sales surplus including home furnishing, health and personal care, general merchandise, miscellaneous store retailers, used merchandise, non-store retailers, vending machine operators, and special food services. She said that the areas experiencing leakage our lawn and garden, clothing, electronic shopping, department stores, other motor vehicle dealers, and specialty foods. Mr. Damicis said that we need to develop specific strategies to attract these businesses.

3 Some market segment analysis observations made were that there is little diversity in the market and two dominant consumer types including 20 to 30-year-olds just starting out and empty-nesters nearing or just entering retirement. The 2010 median household income for the city of Geneva was $44,974, while the region was $48,156, and upstate New York was $50,669. Rob Camoin told everyone that the role of economic development is to show the relationship between a healthy economy and quality of life. A good economic development, absent a major tourist attraction, is going to be what we define. We need to create a good business environment. He said that we are up against different attitudes in other areas of the country meaning attitude at state levels are things that we cannot control. He said that some qualities for success are leadership, having a plan, having a strategy in place, a positive attitude toward business investment, and public investment. He said that the purpose of the strategy plan is to determine how we will allocate resources. A lack of leadership and resources could be reason for failure. He reminded Council that implementation will be the tough part because we will need follow-through and courage to make it work. Mr. Damicis went over the final observations telling counsel what more is needed in the current plan. He said we need entrepreneurs and small business strategies, workforce strategies, medical services, connection to neighborhood revitalization and housing efforts, strategies for advocacy around the plan, and the communication has to be strategic and constant. He said at their detailed implementation strategy will include a vision, goals and objectives, strategy, identification of the primary entity and secondary support entities for implementation, resources (including city, private, not-for-profit, and grants), a measurement plan, time frame for implementation, and the barriers to implementation. When Clr. Valentino asked where we start, since some of our plans came around the time the economy went downhill, Mr. Damicis said that the Bergman Report has many parts and they don't all have to be implemented at the same time. He added that the economy is going to be a barrier. Clr. Valentino said that he feels the experiment station has some untapped energy that could help us. Clr. Augustine said that an additional barrier could be reflected in the decisionmaking. The focus on entrepreneurial success may not be seen the same way by different people. She feels that we have an inability to break out of normal economic development processes and governing structures with no communication for new ideas. Mr. Damicis said that traditional economic development tools cannot help an entrepreneur with new ideas, and instead of giving goods and service to them, we may be able to help them through networking. Clr. Augustine said that if we are not competitive, businesses may start here but move on to different areas. She added that government roles have shifted to creating the type of city people want to invest in.

4 Clr. Valentino said that in the past a philosophy of PILOTS has been used and wondered what we can do different to create a new mindset. Clr. Alcock said that we need a tighter focus on our strategic imperatives. He said he feels our current strategic imperatives are too broad and hopes this study will help us to focus on detail. Clr. D'Amico said he wondered what the barriers were that the stakeholders brought up. He said that elected officials come and go with different ideas and there seems to be a lack of implementation with the Bergman Report. He said we had a lot of community input, but with a shrinking tax base need to choose a significant option. He said he was thinking on a larger level than a one or two person specialty store. Clr. D'Amico also asked if Camoin Associates will be able to assess assets as far as economic development, IDA, and the new LDC. He wondered if we have assets to attract new businesses. Jim said his firm does a really competitive analysis to see if we have the right portfolio. City Manager Horn said that the city needs to redefine the words cash and assets because the city has several networks available to assist businesses. Clr. O'Malley referred to the full-service restaurants being all clustered together in downtown, and said the city could look at valet parking. Another idea, that the zoning law doesn't support, is allowing taxis to sit outside restaurants. City Manager Horn said that we need to find ways to get government out of the way when it comes to new ideas that are not supported by the code. Clr. Augustine said there is no magic bullet to solve our problem. She said we need to create a synergy between the businesses and assets that we already have. Clr. Hagerman said he feels this is like a baseball game where you win by getting base hits versus home runs. He mentioned the Finger Lakes Film Festival and offered the idea of giving tax breaks to companies wanting to film in the area. City Manager Horn said that 30 years ago the city was chasing manufacturing companies to get jobs, and now we have the jobs, but people don't want to live in the city so tax incentives are not the way to go. City Attorney Foster asked the presenters what the central issues are in the places where they're having success. Mr. Damicis said that when interviewing CEO's, they say that they are looking for a place where their workers will feel comfortable. City Manager Horn said that the current procedure is when staff tries to implement a study, counsel reacts. He said that the discussion needs to come first especially when code changes need to be made. Clr. O'Malley told the presenters that they need to know that Geneva is a small city, and sometimes our partners try to control its direction, so we need to all work together to make things happen.

5 When Clr. Valentino asked how personalized the report will be to Geneva, Mr. Damicis said that all of their reports are custom made. He said that they apply their knowledge to our unique assets and that is why they are looking for background data. 4. ADJOURNMENT With nothing further to discuss, Mayor Einstein adjourned the meeting at 8:07pm City Clerk